Angela Bassett Has the Perfect Advice for Black Women in Hollywood

The Academy Award nominee said that discussion of Oscars diversity often comes up in conversation.

Without question, Angela Bassett is Hollywood royalty.

To kick off the ESSENCE 9th annual Black Women in Hollywood event, the Academy award nominee sat down with ESSENCE Live to talk about the joy of her 1994 Best Actress nomination and gave a few words of wisdom to her fellow sisters in the industry.

“It was thrilling," she said. "I don’t think I ever thought that I would actually ever make it to that venue. If you had seen it before you many times. I mean, it’s a long shot..only five. But the role is worthy of landing in the top five…"

Bassett advises her fellow and upcoming actresses to keep their head up while navigating through Hollywood.

“Just remain passionate about it," she said. "Don’t let that flame die out. Remain passionate. Stay positive. Speak positive. Believe, encourage, support. All of those things work. It can be easy to turn cynical in this profession. You have to find the good and praise it."